Newsletter

COLUMBIA — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and her husband earned $367,000 in her first year as the state’s CEO, with $200,000 of that coming from a partial advance on her memoir, according to 2011 tax returns she allowed reporters to view Friday afternoon.

The first couple owed more than $84,000 in taxes – $73,128 in federal taxes and $11,195 to the state. They have paid that from her advance, said her spokesman, Rob Godfrey. For tax year 2010, during her run for governor, the couple owed the IRS $2,813 and received a $692 refund from the state.

“This is why the governor fights for tax relief for our businesses and families – because they know how better to spend the money they’ve worked hard for,” Godfrey said.

The tax forms show that she and husband Michael earned a combined $167,000 from her job as governor and his with the South Carolina National Guard. That’s $10,400 more than they jointly made in 2010. The leap in their earnings comes from the partial advance on her book, Can’t is Not an Option, released last month.

By law, the governor makes just over $106,000.

The Haleys’ Lexington home remained their biggest tax deduction in 2011, with $16,326 in mortgage interest deduction. The couple showed $2,460 in charitable deductions, all but $10 in cash. That’s nearly $1,100 more than they donated in 2010.

Next year’s charitable deduction should be much higher.

The governor transferred $100,000 of the partial advance in January to her community aid foundation, the Original Six, Godfrey said. The foundation is named for her family.

Her parents and siblings referred to themselves as the “original six” as the only Indian-American family in tiny Bamberg, where she grew up.

Haley announced in December 2011 that she would use the full $550,000 advance on the book, plus profits, to set up the nonprofit to help the state’s poorest counties.

Since the launch, the nonprofit held its first community event in Allendale County on March 17. It plans to hold a second event in Marion County next Saturday.

The Haleys filed their returns on time. The date on the forms is April 5.

Their 2010 returns were the first in years that the Haleys filed on time and without late penalties. From 2005 through 2009, they paid $4,500 in penalties on late federal taxes owed.